Circular No. 110/2003/TT-BTC on the regime for collection, payment, and management and use of fees and charges for plant protection, quarantine, and pesticide management.

CIRCULAR

Circular No. 110/2003/TT-BTC dated November 17, 2003 of the Ministry of Finance stipulates the regime for collection, payment, and management and use of fees and charges for plant protection, quarantine, and plant protection chemical management.

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Pursuant to the Ordinance on Fees and Charges and Decree No. 57/2002/NĐ-CP dated June 3, 2002 of the Government detailing the implementation of the Ordinance on Fees and Charges and other guiding documents;

Pursuant to the Ordinance on Plant Protection and Quarantine and Decree No. 58/2002/NĐ-CP dated June 3, 2002 of the Government promulgating the Regulations on Plant Protection, the Regulations on Plant Quarantine, and the Regulations on Plant Protection Chemical Management;

After reaching consensus with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Finance hereby stipulates the regime for collection, payment, and management and use of fees and charges for plant protection, quarantine, and plant protection chemical management as follows:

I. OBJECTS AND AMOUNT OF COLLECTION:

1. Organizations and individuals (regardless of whether they are domestic or foreign) who are subject to the performance of plant protection, quarantine, and plant protection chemical management tasks by state management agencies authorized to do so (hereinafter referred to collectively as plant protection) must pay fees and charges in accordance with this Circular.

2. The amount of fees and charges for plant protection is specified in detail in the attached Fee Collection Table.

II. ORGANIZATION FOR COLLECTION, PAYMENT, AND MANAGEMENT AND USE OF FEES AND CHARGES:

1. Fees and charges for plant protection are revenue items belonging to the state budget.

2. The agency collecting fees and charges for plant protection shall be responsible for:

a) Organizing the collection, payment of fees and charges for plant protection in accordance with this Circular. Publicly posting or announcing the fee and charge rates at the location where fees and charges are collected. When collecting fees and charges, issue and provide receipts to the payer in accordance with current regulations of the Ministry of Finance on the issuance, management, and use of tax stamps.

b) Opening a "temporary holding account for fees and charges" at the State Treasury where the collecting agency is located to monitor and manage the fees and charges. Regularly depositing the collected fees and charges into the temporary holding account within ten days from the date of collection in accordance with current regulations.

c) Maintaining accounting records to monitor and reflect the collection, payment, and management and use of fees and charges for plant protection in accordance with current regulations for administrative and public service units.

d) Registering, declaring, collecting, and paying fees and charges for plant protection to the directly managing Tax Authority in accordance with Circular No. 63/2002/TT-BTC dated July 24, 2002 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the implementation of laws on fees and charges.

e) Implementing financial transparency in accordance with the law.

3. The management and use of fees and charges for plant protection shall be as follows:

a) The agency collecting fees and charges for plant protection may retain a portion of the collected fees and charges before remitting them to the state budget at the following percentages of the total actual collected fees and charges:

- Retain 20% (twenty percent) of the registration and certification fees for importing, producing, and trading plant protection chemicals and fumigation disinfection services.

- Retain 80% (eighty percent) of the inspection, testing, and quarantine fees for plant protection chemicals and plants.

b) Remit the remaining portion of the fees and charges to the state budget, which includes:

- Remit 80% (eighty percent) of the registration and certification fees for importing, producing, and trading plant protection chemicals and fumigation disinfection services to the state budget.

- Remit 20% (twenty percent) of the inspection, testing, and quarantine fees for plant protection chemicals and plants to the state budget.

4. The agency collecting fees and charges for plant protection may use the retained funds at the percentages specified in subpoint a, point 3 above to cover expenses related to the collection of fees and charges for plant protection according to the approved budget with the following specific expenditures:

a) Pay salaries, allowances, hazardous duty allowances, overtime pay, and contributions based on salary for labor (including outsourced labor) engaged in the collection of fees and charges in accordance with current regulations.

b) Provide uniforms or protective equipment for labor involved in the collection of fees and charges in accordance with prescribed regulations (if applicable).

c) Cover expenses related to the collection of fees and charges such as office supplies, telephone, electricity, water, travel expenses, and printing of declaration forms, permits, and other stamps in accordance with current standards and norms.

d) Cover regular maintenance and major repairs of assets, machinery, and equipment used for the collection of fees and charges.

e) Cover conference, seminar, training, and promotional expenses related to the collection of fees and charges.

f) Purchase materials, raw materials, equipment, tools, and other expenses according to the approved budget by the competent authority.

g) Establish a reward fund and welfare fund for staff directly involved in the collection of fees and charges. The average annual contribution to these two funds per person shall not exceed three months' salary if the current year's income exceeds the previous year, and two months' salary if it is lower or equal to the previous year.

The agency collecting fees and charges for plant protection must manage and use the retained funds for their intended purposes and maintain legal documentation.

According to the regulations of the Plant Protection Department, subordinate agencies collecting fees and charges for plant protection must, based on the annual budget approved by the competent authority (divided by month or quarter), deposit any excess retained funds over the approved expenditure budget into the Plant Protection Department's account for redistribution to ensure operational funding for units that lack sufficient resources.

The Plant Protection Department may open additional accounts at the State Treasury where it is located to balance fees and charges among internal units. Any surplus in the account at the end of the year will be carried forward to the next year.

5. The total amount of fees and charges actually collected, after deducting the portion retained for covering the costs of collecting such fees and charges at the prescribed percentage ratio, the remaining amount must be directly remitted to the state budget by the fee and charge collection agency according to the corresponding chapter, type, and item, under Item 033 of the current state budget classification (for agencies under central management, remit to the central budget; for agencies under local management, remit to the local budget).

6. Annually, the fee and charge collection agency for plant protection must prepare a budget estimate and final account of income and expenditure of fees and charges to be submitted to the higher-level sectoral management agency, the financial agency, the tax agency at the same level, and the State Treasury where transactions take place. The settlement of plant protection fees and charges shall be carried out concurrently with the settlement of the state budget.

III. IMPLEMENTATION:

1. This Circular takes effect fifteen days from the date of publication in the Official Gazette; Decree No. 22/2000/QĐ-BTC dated February 21, 2000, issued by the Minister of Finance on the levels of plant protection and quarantine fees, Circular No. 6673 TC/HCSN dated December 30, 1999, of the Ministry of Finance on the management and utilization of plant protection and quarantine fees, and other regulations concerning plant protection fees that conflict with this Circular are hereby repealed.

2. State management agencies responsible for plant protection, quarantine, and pesticide management have the authority to implement the collection, remittance, and management of the use of plant protection fees in accordance with the provisions of this Circular.

3. In the course of implementation, if there are any difficulties, organizations and individuals are requested to promptly report them to the Ministry of Finance for study and resolution.